Soon to be Finished Dress Hacks

When I refashion, I refashion one thing: dresses. Actually, that's not always the case, I occasionally do t shirts and make pants into shorts. But for me, nothing is as fun and interesting as a dress. I've got 2 here and a few more at my blog Craft, Thrift, or Die.
I've been totally slacking, lately. First, I think I broke the sewing machine at my parents' house (probably not). Then, I recently opened an Etsy shop! That means before I start cutting and stitching an item that's too big for me, I consider if the dress is too valuable to risk ruining it with my uh..."talent."
I've actually got a bunch of dresses that I started refashioning for my own use and failed to finish (for any number of  reasons.) I've got them pinned and sitting in this pile just waiting to be completed. And then, a Christmas miracle...

 

A new sewing machine with my name on it under the tree! Which is actually not a miracle. I expressed interest in owning one and my wonderful family purchased one for me. Thank you, family!
It's out of the box and on top of an old vanity, that's step one. Step two will be threading it up and hoping I can make it work. Baby steps...I still have three days left until school starts. Until I get started, here are some "before" pics of the works in progress. Think of this post as a tease and the big reveal comes later.

I've been sitting on that number since summer time. My phone pics didn't do its color justice, it's a muted minty color. I think I was in the middle of changing those ugly buttons and lost motivation.

 

 I'm not sure why I even bought this one, but I guess I wanted a challenge. With the amount of material that I removed from the top I could make a nice king size duvet or something.

 I could not get a good picture because it was late at night and dark and I overcompensated with light. I'm in the middle of adding a mushroom themed ribbon the the hemline. It might work.

Why, yes, I always photograph black dresses against a dark background, don't you? I haven't even started this one yet. I guess I can take another photo before I do. But seriously, I've got to give a little more effort to my "before" shots. With this dress, I just have to fix that rip and do something about that silly bow.

This one, I'm really excited about. I've already got the hem pinned up and the shoulders pinned to be smaller. Of course, the shoulder pads have all been banished from these items. Once I get that sewing machine running, this dress is the first one going under it.
Wish me luck, Refashioners!
-Erica 4EverMoody from Craft, Thrift, or Die